OK, so I have my Rokmen bumper on the way and it's time to start looking for a winch to mount up to it. Like alot of folks, my jeep is also my DD, and I want to keep it on a budget, I remember seeing alot of good deals on winches at the end of last year, I think Mile Marker had a 8000 lb winch for around $300 I believe. Anyhow, I can't seem to find a deal like that anywhere right now.

So, does anybody know of a good value winch that has a good reputation as well??

I know harbor frieght has a couple winches under $400, they're built by Chicago Electric, anybody use them?

I know there are a couple past winch threads like this, but they're old, I wanted to hear about something to date. Thanks in advance!!

I see a few people with them on the board in pics or sigs, but not alot of talk about them.

I have done a bit of winching but no self recovery. I have yanked a few people out of the snow & ditches, dragged a few things and the heaviest pull was dragging a seized up pickup with flat tires into our shop so we could gut it. It worked flawlessly, I was happy enough with it to call it a permanent fixture and just started my in cab controls and have already relocated the control box to underhood.

I do agree with you get what you pay for for the most part however, and if I was an extreme off roader or made my living with my winch this would not be my first choice.

I still buy Craftsman tools sometimes when I need something that I will rarely use but would rather it didn't break (like crows foot wrenches, etc) but I would never choose a Craftsman ratchet over a Snap-On/Matco/Mac.

Generally - you get what you pay for. You say you want "best value" but your post reads like you want "cheapest price".

Right, I agree, you do get what you pay for, and I tried not to make it sound that way, because I don't want the cheapest, I'm asking what winch is worth paying for, I'd love to spend $900 on a winch and I'm sure I could afford it but I'm not going to be putting myself in the position to use it often enough to make that a worthwhile investment, but I would like to have one for the 1 or 2 times a year that I go on a hardcore trek.

Simply put, I'm into the lower dollar range winches, so a better question would be whats a better value, a $300 Smittybuilt XRC8 or the $400 Mile Marker?

The cheapest is going to be the smittybuilt. But I think the best value is the Warn M8000, if you hunt you can get it shipped to your door for about $500. Yes that $100 more than the milemarker, but its also the best brand in winches with a lifetime warrenty on mechanical parts.

Heres an interesting quote from the article:

"Be it effective marketing, brand recognition, reputation, or simply propaganda, all testers involved had an expectation that the sun will rise in the East and the Warn will accomplish the pull. While the other winches were being watched closely to see if they would finish, the Warn’s ability to finish a pull was never doubted. In fact, it only received an occasional glance to see when it was done. This peace of mind alone may be worth the premium price to some readers."

"Be it effective marketing, brand recognition, reputation, or simply propaganda, all testers involved had an expectation that the sun will rise in the East and the Warn will accomplish the pull. While the other winches were being watched closely to see if they would finish, the Warn’s ability to finish a pull was never doubted. In fact, it only received an occasional glance to see when it was done. This peace of mind alone may be worth the premium price to some readers."

Peace of mind is why I chose my Warn winch many years ago. I've been happy with my Warn HS9500i all these years which after enough use to now be on its 4th winch line, has never had a single problem. For me, I'll stick with Warn and personally will only recommend Warn. Warn may not be the only good brand available but I'll never buy or recommend any winch made in China as all the cheap ones mentioned above (Harbor Freight/Chicago, Smittybilt, Milemarker electrics, Champion, etc.) are.

The cheapest is going to be the smittybuilt. But I think the best value is the Warn M8000, if you hunt you can get it shipped to your door for about $500. Yes that $100 more than the milemarker, but its also the best brand in winches with a lifetime warrenty on mechanical parts.

Anybody know where I can find it for that price? Thanks!

And thats the kind of info I was hoping to get from someone, I would rather have a Warn for $500 myself, I just didn't know it was possible

The only drawback (or advantage, depending on who you talk to) is the M8000 does not have an integrated solenoid. You will have to find a place to mount the solenoid, which proves to be kind of a pain depending on where you want it. From what I understand most people eventually mount the solenoid under the hood and do in-cab controls.

The only drawback (or advantage, depending on who you talk to) is the M8000 does not have an integrated solenoid. You will have to find a place to mount the solenoid, which proves to be kind of a pain depending on where you want it. From what I understand most people eventually mount the solenoid under the hood and do in-cab controls.

If you get the warn winch mounting plate it comes with a bracket to mount the solinoid to the winch, or you can easily make your own (as many do) out of a strip of sheet metal. Heres the best pic I have with the warn mounting bracket:

If you're not a heavy winch user, like me, and you have a Costco around, check out the Champion 8000lb winch. Series wound (supposedly more resistant to overheat damage than a permanent magnet motor) comes with winch, remote (cheesy), universal mounting plate, roller fairhead. and a snatch block. Costco warranty is lifetime satisfaction, no questions, exchange or money back for as long as you own it. $299+tax OTD. I have seriously abused mine, and although it's slow, it has always done the job. There are some posts on this board about the Champion, and a Google will provide others. So far, I haven't read much in the way of complaint. Kind of amazing.

I call that value. Others might not. I guess it all depends on your definition of value.

Last edited by crusty75; 03-03-2008 at 05:46 PM..
Reason: remembered included fairhead